In recent years, many technology advances have been introduced to substantially increase the horsepower and speed output of race car engines which generate abnormally high amounts of heat in the engine compartments. Attempts have been made to control the tremendous amounts of engine heat generated by wrapping engine parts or engine compartments with thermal barriers. However, most of the heat can be traced to header pipes extending out of the engine block, and hence, most prior heat barrier products pertain to fabric wraps around the header pipes to prevent excessive heat from attacking and deteriorating other components within the engine compartment. Such attempts to control excessive heat from the header pipes simply contained excessive heat within the exhaust system and transferred the heat down the exhaust pipeline. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,846 suggests an insulating exhaust cover of glass fiber or carbon fiber and an outer flexible metal sleeve to wrap the exhaust system to maintain exhaust gases hot to increase exit velocity and reduce exhaust back pressure in the exhaust system. As the exhaust pipes heat up, however, excessive heat is generated within the driving compartment or cab where the driver of the race is located. Hence, excessive heat generated by powerful race car engines overheat the driving compartments causing most drivers to wear cooling equipment for protection against the excessive heat and to avoid fatigue and heat exhaustion.
Prior art heat-resistant fabrics have been suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,313 directed to woven fabrics coated with organic-inorganic silicone resin containing heat-resistant particulate material. Organopolysiloxane coated fabric substrates are suggested in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,666,765, 4,587,159, and 4,489,127. The prior art, however, does not suggest the decompressed polysiloxane-coated fabric composite of this invention particularly adapted to insulate the driving compartment of racing cars against excessive heat generated by race car engines. The present invention comprises a composite fabric laminate of heat-resistant fabric and cured silicone resin formed in a multi-step forming process to minimize or eliminate undesirable fabric compression which has been found to reduce insulating properties of the composite fabric.
Accordingly, the flexible non-compressed composite heat-resistant fabric of this invention is particularly suitable for lining the interior or exterior walls of the driving compartment of a racing car to provide a thermal barrier and prevent excessive engine heat from entering the driving compartment and adversely affecting the driver.